GOP targets new cost-cut board in health care law

But then House Republicans decided to combine repeal of the board in the same bill with a cap on jury awards in medical malpractice cases. The latter is a long-sought GOP goal, but a nonstarter for Democrats, who tend to side with those who argue such limits undermine the rights of injured patients. Frank’s spokesman says the congressman no longer supports the bill.

Republicans “aren’t interested in compromise, just scoring political points,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., another liberal who doesn’t like IPAB.

Pascrell and other Democratic foes of IPAB object to the board for reasons that are different from those of Republicans. The liberal Democrats see it as an unprecedented and unnecessary delegation of power by Congress. They worry that it could harm key industries such as drug companies. But they stop short of the rationing accusation.

Critics of the board also say that because IPAB is basically an attempt to limit the growth of Medicare spending, a stingy approach by the board could stifle promising medical innovations, restricting access even without explicit rationing.

“It will be a random tax on medical innovation,” said economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin, an adviser to Republicans.

But with any IPAB-ordered cuts years away, it remains to be seen if Republicans can use the issue to move election-year public opinion.

“Protecting Medicare and sustaining it for the future is an incredibly powerful goal for seniors,” said Mollyann Brodie, polling director for the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. But with IPAB “we are talking about something that is not real for people, and they don’t understand how it works.”